The Embassy Incident
by MissJayne
Summary: A function at an Embassy doesn't go to plan. Two cases for the price of one - an explosion and a missing boy. Sequel to NonExistent Numbers.
1. Prologue

The Embassy Incident

_Summary: A function at an embassy doesn't go to plan. Sequel to NonExistent Numbers._

_Spoilers: For my previous story NonExistent Numbers. It might be useful to read that one first._

_A/N The usual thanks goes to Kristen, especially as I dumped the entire story on her as she was dealing with her finals. _

_Please review, you will make my day! And on with the sequel..._

Chapter 1: At The Embassy

Leroy Jethro Gibbs wasn't sure why he had such an uneasy feeling in his gut. He had been put in charge of coordinating security at a function held in the Nepali Embassy. Various Congressmen and lobbyists had been invited, as well as the Director of NCIS. He hadn't a clue how Jenny had ended up on the guest list, worrying instead about protecting her.

The place had been lavishly decorated. Chandeliers seemed to hang everywhere, floral arrangements were every five feet, and candles were on every surface. There was a twenty-man orchestra, and enough food to feed everyone in DC several times over. Waiters were everywhere, offering champagne to those they passed.

Gibbs searched for his team. Tony and Ziva were shadowing the Director, both determined not to let her out of their sight, especially since the last time that had happened the CIA had faked her death. McGee had been disguised as a waiter, causing Tony to tease him that he should take up the job full-time.

He finally located the Director. She was deep in conversation with a Senator, seemingly oblivious to the bustle around her. She was wearing a long dark blue dress that clung in all the right places, and her auburn hair was pinned up. She had a loose gold bracelet around her wrist instead of her usual watch, and she was toying with it unconsciously. He thought he'd never seen her look more beautiful.

Except she wasn't Jenny.

Gibbs wondered briefly how many people in the room knew that the Director of NCIS wasn't present. He suspected that he was the only one; generally Jenny didn't mention her sister.

He knew where she really was; trying to avoid sunburn in the Caribbean. Jenny disliked having to take a protection detail with her when she went on vacation, while Lily disliked enforced breaks between CIA missions. Since Jenny had become Director, the sisters had simply swapped passports and Lily had taken her sister's job whenever necessary.

It had taken him two such vacations before he had realized what was going on. He had stormed into the Director's office one day to discover rap music playing quietly instead of jazz. While the sisters looked identical, and acted surprisingly identical, on some things they were poles apart. One such subject was taste in music.

Since that day he had insisted on knowing when they swapped. He doubted that Lily ever bothered to go on vacation, especially as she travelled a lot when she was working. The opportunity to sit in an office for a week and charm politicians was probably relaxing for her.

"Agent Gibbs," she greeted him.

He resisted the urge to jump; he had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed her arrival.

"I thought you were supposed to be protecting me," she teased.

"Since when do you need protecting?" he growled back.

She grinned in response. "Open bar. Care to join me for two minutes?"

He followed her as she made her way across the room with ease.

"Two bourbons," she informed the barman, before leaning back against the bar.

He watched as she scanned the room. "It's fine," he told her.

"The CIA definition of 'fine' is different to that of NCIS," she murmured softly, not wanting to be overheard.

"Anything bugging you?"

"I haven't felt like this since the last time I was shot," she confessed, sipping the newly arrived bourbon.

"My gut's complaining," he shared.

"The tacos you had for lunch?"

"How do you know what I had…" He glared at her.

She grinned again. "I think they call it a clue when your team shows up in MTAC and DiNozzo stinks of burritos."

Gibbs made a mental note to head-slap his senior field agent the minute he could.

"Seriously, anything in particular?"

He reflected on it. "I thought it might have been because I'm watching you instead of her. But now…"

"You're not sure," she finished for him.

"Something's going to happen."

Tony appeared out of nowhere. He held out a cell phone to the redhead. "A Mr. Dickens for you," he told her.

"Thanks." She took it from him and moved away from the bar for some privacy. "Shepard."

"Hey, boss," Tony offered.

"Yes," she continued, walking past one of the buffet tables.

Gibbs head-slapped his agent.

"Yes," she repeated.

"Ow! Boss! What was that for?"

"Of course."

Gibbs glared at the younger man.

"Okay," she continued.

"Honestly boss?" Tony pleaded.

"I can arrange that," she said as she moved out of audible range.

"Please?"

"Personal hygiene," Gibbs told him.

Tony groaned and took up the redhead's former position.

"Anything suspicious?" Gibbs inquired.

"Unless you count guys hitting on the Director left, right and center as suspicious behavior boss, then no. Although I think anyone _not_ hitting on her would be suspicious; that dress really suits her – OW!" He rubbed his head again.

They watched as the redhead approached the quietest corner in the room, Ziva a short distance behind.

"What's wrong boss?"

"My gut."

Gibbs crossed the room, and nodded to the Israeli that she could leave for a short while. She moved towards Tony, as Gibbs waited a few feet from their target.

He took a moment to observe the yellow roses in the vase next to Lily, and suppressed a smile as she leant over and sniffed them, still listening to the person on the other end of the call.

"Lil," he hissed, trying to attract her attention.

She didn't move. He didn't want to call her name any louder, for fear of being overheard. And although she answered to Jenny, he needed her attention urgently.

"Lil," he tried again.

BOOM

The room exploded. The last thought on Gibbs' mind as he lost consciousness was that Lily had been closer to the bomb than he had.


	2. Bob and Charlie

_All hail Kristen, the most amazing beta I could hope for. Please review and make my day!_

Chapter 2: Bob and Charlie

The first thing that Gibbs became aware of was a searing pain in his head.

The second was the voices of the doctors around him. He tried to open his eyes, but they were very heavy. He groaned.

"He's waking up," came a familiar voice. He couldn't quite place it…

Embassy. Explosion. The memories shot into his mind and he sat up abruptly.

"Lie back down Jethro," Ducky admonished.

"What happened?" he asked as a doctor pushed him firmly back down.

"You hit your head pretty hard," Ducky told him. "They don't think you have a concussion –"

He sat up again. "Then they can't keep me here."

Ducky gave him a semi-amused look.

"What?"

"Is this due to your concerns for our lovely Director?" he queried.

He shook his head, and regretted it. "Need to call the CIA."

His friend understood what he meant instantly. He turned to one of the other doctors. "I can look after him," he offered.

As the doctors backed off, Gibbs forced himself to stand. "How is she?" he asked.

"I left her with your team," Ducky said as they walked out the door. He lowered his voice. "That was Lily?"

"Yeah."

They reached the waiting room, where Gibbs was immediately attacked by a black blur.

"Gibbs! Are you okay? Should you be on your feet? What happened? How –"

"Abigail," Ducky pleaded. "Let him sit down."

She let go instantaneously. "Sorry Bossman."

Gibbs glanced around the room and wasn't surprised to see the rest of his team present. He carefully sank into a plastic chair and closed his eyes briefly. "Where's the Director?"

McGee answered. "They took her into emergency surgery an hour ago. They think she might have broken some ribs."

An hour! He'd been out for an hour. He wondered if he'd had a CAT scan. "Was she conscious?"

"Completely out of it. She, erm… she lost quite a bit of blood."

He mulled this over. Lily didn't exactly have a low risk job, but she was pretty good at avoiding injuries. Most of the time. She thought that her average of one hospital visit a year was excellent. Jenny had once asked her what her average would be if she went to the hospital when she needed to, rather than when she was forced to. Lily had changed the topic rapidly.

"Tell him the other thing, McGeek," Tony piped up.

McGee looked very nervous all of a sudden.

"What other thing?" Gibbs growled. He needed coffee.

"Erm… she, erm…"

"Spit it out."

"She sort of… stopped breathing."

He reminded himself to breathe. Not good. And he was going to have to tell Jenny this too, if she didn't know already. He was prepared to swear that sometimes they were psychic.

"I mean, that was an hour ago," McGee pointed out. "And if she wasn't okay they'd have told us by now."

"Timothy's right," Ducky added. "It's been an hour. Every minute they don't talk to us is good."

They all looked up as a doctor walked in. "Anyone for Shepard?" he called.

* * *

Ziva stood up with the rest of the team. She had been keeping quiet while she worried for her friend. Jenny had pulled through worse than this before, and if she didn't…

In her peripheral vision, she noticed two other people stand up. As the team made their way over to the doctor, the two men joined them.

The doctor looked at the small group of people. "We're her agents," Gibbs announced, waving at everyone. He glared at the newcomers.

The older man spoke up first. "Congressman Bob Sommers," he offered, shaking the doctor's hand. "Jenny's my lover."

Ziva detected a slight shadow crossing Gibbs' face, but said nothing.

The other man joined in. "Charlie. Her brother. How is she?"

She observed him for a moment. He was a few inches taller than Jenny, and looked a few years younger. He had floppy blonde hair and blue eyes. Although his face was etched with concern, she suspected that he was quite mischievous. She wondered why Jenny had never mentioned him, though she never talked about family.

The doctor spoke up again. "She's going to be fine." Everyone relaxed slightly.

"How is she?" Ducky asked.

"Bruised three ribs, unconscious, on a ventilator. Hospital policy states no more than two visitors at a time."

"Good," said Gibbs. "We're protecting her. Those two," he pointed at the Congressman and Charlie, "are the visitors. Which room?"

Ziva withheld a smirk. The doctor looked perturbed.

"You're protecting her?" He was looking at Abby.

The Goth nodded solemnly, knowing that she couldn't visit unless he said so.

He gave in. "Room 1013, just down the hall there."

The group set off.

* * *

'_She looks so pale_,' mused Gibbs as he watched her breathe. Even knowing it was Lily, he could see Jenny in her place. There was a tube down her throat, and she looked so still. They were never still; they seemed to gain energy from each other. Lily was always working on her latest mind game while Jenny was furthering her career.

Her eyes were closed, and it scared him. Both sisters expressed their emotions through their eyes, though Lily was more guarded. They had entire conversations where neither of them spoke, just looked at each other and instinctively know what the other was thinking. The first time he had seen that he was confused. Since then, he had learnt that they simply didn't need to talk.

Jenny. He still loved her after all these years. He'd never been able to get her out of his head. Her smiles made everything okay, and he would give the world to hear her laugh.

Lily. Extremely similar and yet extremely different. She was fiercely protective of her sister, and yet… she was darker somehow. She moved in dangerous circles and played games that could so easily backfire and lead to her death.

The same, but different.

He glanced over at Charlie. The younger man had kissed her forehead when he had entered, ignoring the beeping of the monitors and the wires. He had called her 'Jenny' when he tried to wake her, which Gibbs guessed was deliberate.

He knew that the sisters were excellent at keeping secrets, especially regarding family. It had taken him three months before he had discovered that Jenny was a twin, and he had only found out because Lily had appeared unexpectedly on the wrong side of an undercover drugs deal. Fortunately, she had been able to persuade the dealers that he and Jenny were friends of hers. After the arrests, she had introduced herself.

He therefore wasn't overly surprised to find that a brother existed. He briefly wondered if there were more siblings.

Ducky seemed to have taken to Charlie, and was quietly conversing with him. From what he could hear, Charlie was an artist who lived in New York. Apparently his apartment complex was being fumigated and Jenny had offered to put him up for a few days.

Bob Sommers. Congressman.

That wasn't so good. '_Which sister is he dating_?' he wondered, shooting him a glare. He was aware that Lily had once split her sister up from a previous lover by calling him herself and claiming to be Jenny. He knew that, after numerous rows, they had put it behind them, and he was always alert when he couldn't see which one was talking to him.

He thought that they were getting closer. And now someone claiming to be her lover was here, in the hospital, holding her hand! Or, at least he _thought_ he was holding Jenny's hand, he consoled himself. He hoped that Lily would 'dump' him the moment she woke up.

He looked around at the rest of his team. Abby had snuggled into McGee's arms and was fighting back tears, while Tony and Ziva had taken up guard posts at the door. He risked a smile; he had taught them well.

Now all he needed was for Lily to wake up and tell him what was going on this time.


	3. Just a Missing Boy

_Damn writers block! I've been struggling to write anything for the last week. It had better blow over soon..._

_Thanks to Kristen, for being a wonderful beta as usual. Perhaps another week before I send you yet another massive document?!_

Chapter 3: Just A Missing Boy

Lily woke up to the soft beeping of the monitors. Keeping her eyes closed, she tried to deduce where she was.

Hospital room. That was obvious. Even ignoring the tube down her throat and the monitors, there was a strong antiseptic smell and her ribs ached. She wondered what painkillers she was on, as they clearly weren't working well enough.

Low voices. Movement. Someone holding her hand.

Seven, no, _eight _people. Ducky and Charlie were talking on one side of her. McGee was quietly reading part of his new book to someone, she guessed Abby. A female voice was muttering in Hebrew – Ziva. Tony sounded as though he were on his cell, probably on hold. She couldn't hear Gibbs, but knew that he wouldn't have left.

Bob was holding her hand tightly. She squeezed it back.

"She's waking up," he called to the others.

She opened her eyes, making sure to look bewildered. She tried to speak around the tube, but got nowhere.

"I'll get a nurse," Tony piped up before shooting out the door, his cell phone still by his ear.

Bob placed a kiss on her forehead. "How are you feeling, my love?"

Gibbs shot the Congressman a glare behind his back; Lily resisted the urge to laugh.

"We didn't want to leave you all alone in this scary hospital," Abby told her. "You don't mind, do you? The doctors said that you're going to be fine, by the way. I can go and get started on my analyses now if you like. I mean –"

"Abigail," Ducky interrupted. "Give her a chance to wake up."

Tony returned minus the phone but plus a doctor. She didn't know which one she was more thankful for.

"Good morning, Ms. Shepard," he greeted her cheerfully.

"Director, actually," Bob corrected him.

His comment was ignored as the doctor looked at the monitors. "I can take you off the ventilator if you want," he offered.

She nodded. The sooner she could walk out, the better.

"Okay, I need you to cough."

She did as he told her while he pulled the tube out. Bob squeezed her hand so tightly that she wondered if she'd be able to move it afterwards. The doctor put her on a nasal cannula, to help her breathe.

"How are you feeling?" the doctor inquired. Charlie picked up a cup of ice chips, and fed her a few. Her initially sore throat immediately felt better.

"Okay, I guess," she replied hoarsely.

The doctor made a few notes on her chart. "What do you remember?"

"Anything she remembers is the subject of our investigation," Ziva added instantly.

"I just need to check that her memory is functioning," the doctor protested.

Gibbs nodded at him to continue.

"What do you remember?" he repeated.

She thought about it for a moment. "Embassy function. Erm… explosion."

"Good." He made a few more notes. "You stopped breathing on the way here," he told her. "You've bruised three ribs. You need to stay under our observation for a few days."

"Of course."

He walked out of the room without replying.

Gibbs looked at her hard. She tamped down her frustration and turned to Bob, who was kissing her knuckles.

"Bob, could you leave us for a few moments? I need to talk to my agents."

"I'm not going anywhere," he insisted. "I'm here to look after you."

"I need to talk to them about the investigation. Could you get me a coffee?"

He kissed her lips softly before heading out. She turned to Charlie.

"I'll take a walk," he told her, without having to be asked. He followed Bob out of the room.

She closed her eyes to regain control over her emotions. When she opened them, she noticed Gibbs staring at her.

"Problem?" she asked.

"What's bothering you?"

"Someone blew me up! Sorry if that bugs me." She felt her patience slipping.

"Everyone else is fine," he answered her unspoken question. "Few bumps and bruises, but no fatalities."

She sighed in relief.

"Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?" he queried.

"Other than that gut feeling, nothing."

"Heard any rumors that the function was going to be hit?"

"Nothing." She wished Charlie would come back and give her more ice chips. Her throat was sore, it hurt to breathe, and she suspected that she was going to be stiff for weeks.

"Okay. I'll post two agents on your door, just in case it was aimed at you."

"Probably random," she mused. "No way to tell when it would go off."

"As a matter of fact," Abby chimed in, "It would depend on what type of detonator was used."

"Abs," Gibbs hissed. She disregarded his attempt to make her feel better. Right now, she was itching to go on a murderous rampage.

"Go," she ordered. "Investigate."

They obediently filed out. She picked up the phone she had stolen from Charlie and hidden under the cover. Dialing a number she knew by heart, she lifted it to her ear.

"When I catch up with you," she threatened, "You're going to wish you were dead."

* * *

Tony threw another paper airplane into the air. It missed Ziva's head by a matter of inches. He groaned.

"Probie," he called, without turning round. "Stop playing that stupid game."

McGee didn't look up. "At least it's more constructive than throwing paper around the squad room."

"I am expressing my gratitude that I am back on dry land. You spent Vance's rule with your precious computers."

Ziva glanced up from her phone call. "Are either of you investigating the bomb? Or are you too busy doing other things?"

Tony got up and perched on the edge of her desk. "Well Zee-vah, I read the statements that were taken, I read the security arrangements, and I examined the crime scene photographs. You know what I found?"

"Enlighten me."

"Nothing."

"So search harder DiNozzo," Gibbs demanded as he strode to his desk.

"Waiting for a report from Abby, boss," Tony reported while heading back to his own desk.

"Looked through the security footage and found nothing unusual," McGee added, closing his game.

"Waiting for a contact to get back to me," Ziva told him, still on hold.

"Stop waiting and start doing," Gibbs ordered. He hadn't been able to get hold of Jenny and tell her the news yet, and he didn't want her to find out by turning on a television.

He reached for the phone to try calling her again when it started ringing. He snatched it up. "Gibbs."

His team paused anxiously, wondering what was going to happen.

"Gear up," he announced as he put the receiver down.

"What's more important than the Embassy bombing?" Tony queried.

"Eight year old son of a Marine was kidnapped last night."

* * *

Gibbs stalked down the corridor, followed by his team. He was fuming. Apparently, the boy had been taken the previous night, but the school had only just reported it.

They were at an exclusive private boarding school about twenty miles south of DC. On the way in, Gibbs had seen a number of boats on a lake, and had been told that the students regularly went sailing. If he hadn't been so angry, he might have been impressed with the wide variety of activities on offer.

"Here," Mr. Chapman pointed. "This is his dorm room."

Gibbs stepped in and looked around.

Four empty beds, all neatly made. He could have bounced a coin off them. Everything was neat and tidy, and completely clean.

"Wow," Tony muttered. "How do eight year old boys keep this room tidy?"

"These particular boys have been here for years," Mr. Chapman told them. "Jasper has been here the longest."

"Jasper Thompson, the missing boy?" queried McGee.

"Yes. Although we don't start teaching children until they reach the age of six, we actually accept them from six months old."

McGee was astonished. "Why accept them?"

"A lot of these children have parents who lead extremely busy lives. Some run international companies, others are politicians. Although we don't officially teach them, we can look after and bring up younger children. We provide security and monitoring twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year. It often works out cheaper than nannies and tutors."

"That why you didn't report this earlier?" Gibbs growled. "Worried about losing business?"

Mr. Chapman looked abashed. "I wanted to report it immediately. My boss told me to hang back; he wanted to inform the relatives first."

"Have the relatives been informed?" he asked.

"We have been unable to reach them. We'd appreciate it if you could keep this quiet until we've told them."

"We're taking over from here," Gibbs warned. "We'll do what we want. DiNozzo…"

"Bag and tag," he answered.

"Ziva…"

"Photographs," she called.

"McGee…"

"Witness statements," he replied as he walked out.

* * *

It wasn't long before the team had finished.

"No trace evidence, boss," Tony reported. "Either the boys cleaned the room afterwards or our intruder was prepared."

"He was prepared," McGee joined in. "The other three boys woke up around 11 last night when they heard a noise. They saw a dark figure leaving the room with their friend Jasper over his shoulder."

"_His_ shoulder?" Gibbs questioned.

"It appears that one of the other boys is afraid of the dark so they leave the curtains slightly open. There was a full moon last night and clear skies. They saw Jasper well enough to identify him, but only the back of the intruder. Judging by the way he walked, they guessed it was a male."

"No description, no evidence," Ziva pointed out.

"Just a missing boy."


	4. Jasper Thompson

_Thanks to Kristen for being a marvellous beta._

Chapter 4: Jasper Thompson

Tony DiNozzo leant back in his chair and sighed. He was supposed to be working on the missing child case, but he was just thinking.

When they arrived back at the squad room, Gibbs had ordered them to research Jasper's life. While Ziva and McGee tutted every two minutes about him being 'abandoned', Tony had found himself wishing that he had been in the kid's position.

They had discovered that Jasper had been at the school since he was six months old, the youngest age at which anyone could join. He spent the holidays and the summer at the school. Tony thought that he would have loved it. A secure, stable environment without his crazy mother and even crazier father. Plenty of children his own age to run around and play with.

The school had grudgingly released some personal information when Gibbs had threatened to hand the case over to the local cops. Armed with the father's name, Ziva had traced him. To Arlington National Cemetery. Brigadier General Brian Thompson had been a highly distinguished officer. The NCIS case file stated that he had been gunned down in front of his heavily pregnant wife, dying in her arms. Unfortunately, the rest of the file was sealed and even McGee's super hacking powers hadn't been able to open it. With the Director unavailable, Gibbs had stalked off to try to get someone to unseal it.

Ziva was busy calling her contacts to ask about the Embassy bombing, McGee was still trying to open the case file, and Tony was leaning back in his chair, debating what to have for lunch –

"Ow!" he yelled, as Gibbs head-slapped him.

"Found the boy yet?"

"No, boss. Working on it," he offered as he scrambled to find something to do… What _was_ there to do? Much as he needed Abby's forensic report, she had mysteriously vanished before they had returned from the school. He strongly suspected that she had gone to see the Director, but he needed that report now. Maybe Ducky would have something…

"Where are you going?" Gibbs growled before he was even halfway out of his chair.

"Talk to Ducky?" he tried.

"No bodies."

"He might have some ideas…"

Gibbs stood up abruptly, looking homicidal. "YOU had better have some ideas, DiNozzo, before I get you sent back to that ship!"

Tony winced. His fourteen days as an Agent Afloat had been the worst of his adult life. Could his boss really send him back?

"NOW, DiNozzo!" Gibbs roared, most of the squad room clearing rapidly to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

"Kidnapper didn't set off any alarms and wasn't noticed by anyone except the boys in the dorm room," he complied, thinking on his feet. "So either he was an ex-employee, or the boys lied."

"Why would second grade boys lie?" McGee asked, looking up from his computer screen.

"Maybe… maybe they knew who took him? Maybe Jasper was taken by someone he knew. Aren't most child abductors relatives?" Tony queried, looking at his teammates for support.

"We cannot find any relatives," Ziva pointed out.

"And normally there's a custody case going on," McGee added. "We only know of a mother, and I tried searching for a legal fight but found nothing."

"We could try asking the school again," Tony said.

"Like that worked so well the last ten times," Gibbs muttered, sitting back down.

"What if we ask the boys?" Tony wondered aloud.

"They saw a dark figure taking their friend out of the room and nothing else," Ziva sniped.

"We know _that_, but maybe they can tell us about a relative or a custody battle or something else about him that would help us. Jasper could have confided in someone other than the staff. We talk to them, and they could blow this case open."

"Finally, a good idea," Gibbs declared. "Tony, Ziva, go back to the school and talk to the kids this time."

"Boss?" McGee piped up.

"Stay here and see if you can open that file." He took off towards the elevator. "I need coffee."

* * *

"My brother? You told them you're my brother?!"

Charlie winced. "I improvised."

"You couldn't have gone for boyfriend?!" Lily asked him incredulously.

"Bob was there. If I'd said boyfriend I'd have screwed up the op."

She sighed, frustrated.

"Look, I'm sorry. But I didn't have a choice!"

"What am I supposed to do when LJ asks Jenny?"

"Ask her to lie?"

"I'm not asking my sister to lie for me!"

"Can you calm down?" he hissed, looking in alarm at the monitors. "I don't want to get kicked out."

Lily took several deep soothing breaths, relaxing as much as she could. "Better?"

"Much."

"I need to get out of here," she told him.

"Not now."

She glared at him.

"You were blown up yesterday! You need to rest."

"I am the senior agent and I want to leave."

"Yes, you taught me everything I know, but isn't the most important thing to never ever blow your op?"

"So going after the idiot who put me in here is not important then?"

He thought how best to phrase his answer. "I can deal with that. If you leave, someone could figure out that you're not Jenny."

"My sister would sit here all day and do nothing?"

"No! Look… another night won't kill you. Stay another night and I'll get them to check you out in the morning."

She didn't bother to argue back. Her ribs still hurt, but telling the doctors would lead to her being given stronger pain medication, which she could live without.

They shared a look as the door opened, instantly falling back into their roles.

Abby beamed at the redhead. "How are you? I bought you some flowers." She waved the black roses in the air. Lily smiled; the Goth could brighten up any room.

Charlie took the roses. "I'll go find a vase," he offered. "Won't be long, Jenny." He disappeared through the door.

"Thanks Abby," Lily told her. "It's good to see you."

Abby came over, with an awkward look on her face.

"What's wrong?" queried the redhead.

"For starters, I can't hug you coz I don't want to hurt your ribs. And then it's so quiet in here. Why don't you have the television on? And –"

"The television's broken. If you're careful, you can hug me," she reassured the younger woman.

Abby leant over and tentatively put her arms around her.

"I'm not going to break, Abby," Lily teased softly.

"I'm scared," she confessed.

"What about?"

"First Vance tried to kill you, after that the CIA faked your death, and now you could have died!"

"I'm still here," she promised.

"But the bomb was incorrectly assembled! Two wires were round the wrong way. If they were switched, the whole building would have gone, and you wouldn't be here." The Goth pulled away, tears threatening to roll down her face.

"Abby," Lily spoke gently. "As an agent, I put my life on the line every day. And now, as a Director, I'm not in the same position, but there are still people gunning for me. I'm still here. What is it that Ducky says?"

"Which one?" she sniffed.

"'You must live for today; because yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never come.'"

"Oh. That one."

"It's true. So stop worrying and cheer me up."

"Do I really cheer you up?" Abby questioned, already happier.

"Yes! You know, sometimes I wish that you could have been on one of my missions. You brighten the room just by being there."

Abby beamed.

'_At least _someone _feels better_,' thought Lily.

* * *

Tony and Ziva strolled back into a squad room a few hours later. As Ziva swung her bag onto her desk, Tony started to report.

"Next to useless, boss."

"Next to?" Gibbs asked, sipping his coffee.

"I disagree. The boys told us something that we did not know before," Ziva argued.

"Do I have to pry it out of you?" Gibbs queried.

"Although they have never seen her, the mother still plays a character in her son's life."

"Role, Zee-vah," Tony corrected. "Every now and then, she shows up and takes him out of school for a week or so."

"Maybe that's what happened," McGee suggested.

"Unlikely," Ziva replied. "The mother always calls at least twenty-four hours before she arrives."

"Maybe she forgot to call. Maybe it was an impulse thing," McGee offered.

"She always calls her son. The other boys said that he gets very excited when she visits. There was not an arranged visit last night. _And_ they said that he was carried out by a male. Surely she would have alerted the staff if she were there, and where does this male come in?"

"We need to trace the mother," Gibbs decided.

"Working on it, boss," McGee piped up.

Gibbs' phone rang.

"How hard can it be to trace a mother?" questioned Tony. "You still playing that game, Probie?"

"Gear up," Gibbs ordered as he put the phone down. "Waitress claims to have a boy matching Jasper's description in her café."


	5. Blown to Smithereens

_As always, big thanks go to Kristen. Especially as I've just sent her a 52 page file with another story..._

_Thanks to all my reviewers. To everyone else, come join the party!_

Chapter 5: Blown to Smithereens

The café was small, greasy and out of the way. Gibbs wondered briefly why anyone would visit the place.

He had sent McGee and Tony round the back, in case Jasper decided to make a run for it. He and Ziva were going to enter through the front door. He hoped that Jasper would feel more comfortable with a female present. The tip-off had said that the boy was alone, but Gibbs wasn't taking any chances.

He pushed open the door, Ziva right behind him, and walked up to the counter. He tried not to look around so that Jasper wouldn't panic. "Hi," he smiled at the waitress.

"Hey," her Texan accent greeted him warmly. "What can I get you?"

He lowered his voice. "NCIS."

She nodded solemnly. "Furthest booth from the door. I think he's fallen asleep."

"Thanks."

They made their way to the back of the café, spotting a small boy curled up in a chair. He had dark brown hair, which looked, Gibbs thought, in need of a good cut. He wasn't wearing pajamas, instead dressed in a T-shirt and shorts.

Gibbs indicated that Ziva should rouse him.

"Jasper," she called softly. "Jasper?" She touched his arm lightly.

The boy reacted. He woke up with a start, and did the one thing Gibbs had been hoping he wouldn't.

He panicked.

He shot between the two agents, making for the back door.

The agents chased him. He reached the door and barreled straight into McGee.

"What the –"

He continued running, crashing into Tony… and stopping.

"Help me," he pleaded.

* * *

Tony DiNozzo looked down at the small creature that had crashed into him moments before. The boy looked terrified and was clinging to his leg.

Gibbs knelt down at his level. "Hey Jasper," he soothed. "We're from NCIS. We're here to help."

"I didn't mean to steal the money; I just wanted some food," the boy pleaded, looking at Tony for support.

"That's… that's not what we're here for," Gibbs reassured him.

"It was only a few dollars, and the guy looked rich enough to afford it!"

"You picked someone's pocket?" Ziva asked, impressed despite of the situation.

"I was hungry," the boy defended himself.

"It's okay. That's not why we're here," Gibbs offered.

The boy looked at them suspiciously. "I want to see your badge," he demanded.

Gibbs smiled softly and handed it over. The boy examined it carefully before returning it.

"I'm Jasper," he announced. "What's going on?"

* * *

Autopsy was rarely this crowded. The team had gathered downstairs while Ducky examined Jasper. He was sitting on a steel table, not seeming to mind the cold. Ducky was telling him a convoluted story about his youth, which Jasper was asking numerous questions about.

They had quickly discovered that he became very nervous whenever Tony left his line of sight. Tony had denied knowing Jasper, or even seeing him before. Gibbs had warned his senior field agent that the boy believed that he had seen him before, and urged him to recall the circumstances.

"I think that's it, young man," Ducky told the boy.

Gibbs stepped over to the table. "Is he up for some questions, Duck?"

"I can hear you," Jasper pointed out.

Ducky smiled. "If Master Thompson feels that he is ready to talk, who am I to stop him?"

Gibbs sat on the table next to Jasper. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I want my mom," the boy admitted, tears twinkling in his green eyes.

"We'll see what we can do about that," Gibbs promised. "Can you tell me what happened last night?"

"I was in my dorm room, and I heard someone come in, real quiet like. I pretended to be asleep, but he picked me up and carried me out. He, erm, he took me to his car and put me in the back and I pretended to wake up. He told me to not make a noise."

"Did he threaten you?"

"He said he didn't want to hurt me. He drove for a long time, and we stayed at a motel somewhere. He bought me breakfast this morning, and a change of clothes. Then when he tried to put me back in the car, a lady came over so I ran. I walked around for a bit, and then I got hungry so I took some money and went to the café. Then you found me."

"Did he hurt you at all? Did he do anything you didn't like?"

"No. He was nice."

"Can you remember what he looked like?"

"He had silver hair, kinda like yours. He was short and thin and wore shades even inside."

"Do you think you could describe him to a sketch artist?"

"I could try. My mom says that there's no harm in trying something."

Gibbs smiled. "That sounds like good advice. What's your mom's name?"

"Just 'mom'. I don't know."

"What do other people call her?"

Jasper started sobbing.

"Okay, you did really well Jasper," Gibbs praised, rubbing his back to calm him down.

He beckoned Tony over.

"He thinks he knows you. Stay with him for now," he ordered.

"Yes boss. Hey Jasper." Tony sat down on the table, watching Gibbs leave with the rest of the team. "Everything's going to be fine."

* * *

Gibbs could hear the music from the lab before the elevator stopped. Groaning, he sipped his coffee and followed the noise.

Abby was standing by her computer, her head bobbing along to the beat. She seemed oblivious to the volume. Her skirt looked shorter than ever, and her pigtails were getting even longer.

Gibbs turned the music off.

"Hey!" she yelled, turning towards him. "Don't do… Gibbs!" She ran over, hugged him, and stole the Caf-Pow from his hands.

"Abs, you really need to keep the volume down," he scolded.

"I am still recovering from Vance's reign of terror," she told him, skipping back to her computer.

"When the Director gets back –"

"She doesn't mind it being loud. Have you seen her, Gibbs? I went to see her this morning and she looked good for someone who got blown up."

"How many Caf-Pows have you had today?" he asked, becoming suspicious.

"This is my fifth and it's just gone midday," she sang.

He tried to take it back out of her hands; she moved away.

"How's the boy, bossman?"

He gave up, deciding not to bring her another one today. "Ducky says he's fine."

"What's going to happen to him?"

"He's staying here for at least tonight."

"Aw, you're not going to let him go back to his friends?"

"No."

"That's mean, Gibbs."

He sighed. "Abs, whoever did this managed to break into a fairly secure school. Jasper only escaped because he got lucky. We don't know much about the kidnapper; we don't know why Jasper was taken. Until we get something, he's staying here, in our custody."

"Do I have to look after him? Like Carson? Because he was a handful, Gibbs! Not that I couldn't handle him, but still –"

"He seems to know DiNozzo from somewhere."

"Our DiNozzo?" She looked confused. "From where?"

"Tony doesn't know. For now, I'm keeping them together while we try to locate family."

"Poor Tony," she giggled.

"Got anything for me?" he inquired.

She straightened up. "Yes, oh great one. I've been looking at the bomb from the embassy. Did you know that if it hadn't been misassembled, the building wouldn't be standing?"

"McGee told me after you told him."

"Bad McGee. But I do have something new," she proudly announced.

He gave her an exasperated look.

"Okay. The bomb was very complicated and it was blown to smithereens. But I think it was triggered… can I have a drum roll?"

"No."

"By a phone call. You're a spoilsport sometimes."

"You think?" he queried.

"Did I mention that it was blown to smithereens?"

"You did."

"So I'm not one hundred percent sure. Maybe ninety, ninety five percent?"

"Have you checked the security footage yet?"

"I'm getting to it, my silver haired fox. I have other cases to work on too, although this is my top priority."

"Good to know," he replied, walking towards the elevator.

"Unless… Gibbs! Is the boy supposed to be my number one priority?"

He turned around. "Keep working the bombing," he told her before he left.


	6. More Questions

_Thanks to Kristen for just being wonderful. Sorry for deluging you at the moment..._

Chapter 6: More Questions

Lily suppressed a shudder as she sat in her hospital bed. She had persuaded the nurse to get her discharge papers so she could sign out. Unfortunately, Bob had decided that she wasn't going to leave unless the doctor gave her the all clear. That had led to a bad argument, with Charlie running for cover the moment it had begun. He had learnt the hard way to not pick a fight with her.

Bob had finally relented under duress; she had threatened to leave him if she couldn't have her own way. In reality, she couldn't afford to mess up the operation, but he didn't know that and she did not intend to tell him.

Charlie had returned a short while later, with a very strong cup of coffee. He had all but begged her to not leave, using platitudes such as 'It's for the good of the operation' and 'Your sister would want you to stay'. She knew that he was hiding something, but was in too much discomfort to force it out of him.

The doctor had appeared not long ago and given her a prescription for some painkillers. She did not plan to take them; they would mess with her mind too much. Until Jenny came back from her vacation, she would have to suffer. Her throat was still sore, although it had definitely improved. Her ribs were the worst; they ached badly, and she knew that she had been lucky not to break them. Someone was going to pay for that…

Her desire to shudder had occurred because Bob had stuck his head around the door again. "Are you still planning to leave, my love?" he asked.

"I'm not planning; I'm leaving," she told him. Her patience had yet to return.

"Just one more night, my love," he pleaded. "I need to be sure that you're okay."

"I'm okay. I'm beyond okay; I'm peachy. The doctor gave me a prescription; I'll get it filled and go home."

"It would be better if you rested here. If anything happened to you, I'd never forgive myself."

She was being to understand why Charlie had refused to give back her gun. "I'll feel even better at home," she stated. "Charlie is going to wait on me hand and foot."

He stepped properly into the room. "You never told me about your brother," he whined.

"He's an artist, living in New York. We talk maybe once or twice a year on the phone."

"Is there a feud or something?" he inquired.

"Our lives took different paths. Anyway, Shepard's don't feud."

"There are more of you?"

She wanted to punch him. "Were more of us," she corrected. "My father taught me it, years ago. He always used to say that blood is thicker than water, and thus blood should never feud."

"It's just you and Charlie?"

"We're the only ones left," she lied.

The door opened again, and Charlie entered. "Ready to go?" he asked.

"Please reconsider," Bob begged.

She ignored him and climbed out of her bed. "Get me out of here," she ordered Charlie.

"Where to, my lady?" he teased.

"Pharmacy, then home. Remember how to make that soup still?"

"Of course."

"Jenny, please," Bob tried again.

"Why don't you go back to work?" she offered. "I'll see you later tonight."

Bob finally realized that he wasn't going to win. "Fine. Take care." He stalked out of the room.

Charlie stared at her. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Positive," she snapped. "Change of plan. No pharmacy, no home. I want to go to NCIS."

* * *

Tony looked around the squad room, frantically searching for Ziva. He had no idea how to look after a kid, no idea at all! Jasper had repeatedly stolen everything out of his pockets and his desk, showing off his sleight of hand skills. Ziva had found it adorable until she had disappeared.

With no one to throw his paper airplanes at, Tony had been forced to work. McGeek was engrossed in his attempts to open the file on Jasper's father, to no avail. Gibbs had left for coffee about twenty minutes ago, which was a pity because he could have parked the kid with the boss.

The school was still refusing to help, even though Jasper was now in their custody. Tony suspected that it was only a matter of time before Gibbs blew up at them.

Unexpectedly, something hit the back of his head. He bent down to pick it up. It was a paper airplane. He swiftly moved over to Ziva's desk and looked behind it.

All the planes he had thrown at her had disappeared. Moreover, while his had all missed, she had hit him first try!

He looked around again, trying to locate her. No sign. Crazy ninja Mossad chick. He sat down at his desk.

Another one hit the back of his head. He ignored it. And another, and another, and another.

Finally, he reached for his cell and rang his boss.

"Gibbs," came a growl.

"Hey boss. Where are you?"

"Does it matter?"

"Ziva's throwing paper airplanes at me, boss. You've gotta help!"

A piercing whistle got his attention. He turned around and looked up at the catwalk.

Ziva was standing next to Gibbs, another airplane in hand. She threw it at him, and it hit him straight between the eyes.

"Don't throw 'em at Ziva," Gibbs ordered, before ending the call.

As the two of them made their way down the steps, Jasper giggled.

"What's so funny?" he growled.

"You've got a mark right in the center of your forehead," Jasper managed to tell him, in between his giggles.

He rubbed his head furiously. Crazy ninja Mossad chick.

"DiNozzo, report," his boss ordered as he marched past.

"School aren't talking," he replied, still mad. "Claiming that we can't force them to release parental information while Jasper is technically in their care."

"He's not in their care, he's in ours," Gibbs argued.

"I've asked Legal to look into it," he offered.

"McGee," Gibbs called.

"I can't get into this file," he complained without looking up.

"Keep working on it. Ziva."

"I thought of another road –"

"Avenue, Zee-vah," Tony corrected.

"All births have to be registered. So I checked the register for our guest's name."

"And you got the mother's name. Brilliant!" Tony praised.

"No. I can't find him."

Everyone turned to look at her.

"Did I say it wrong?"

"He's not registered?" queried Gibbs, puzzled.

"I cannot find him. Perhaps he was registered under a different name?"

"Jasper," Gibbs called. "You got another name?"

"No, sir," the boy answered. "Jasper Thompson."

Gibbs sighed. He really hated complications. "Look again, Ziva. Tony, chase up Legal. McGee, get me into that file!"

* * *

Walking back into the lab with his team, Gibbs was relieved to discover that the omnipresent music was at a lower level. The Goth was still bobbing her head, but seemed calmer than she had been when he had last seen her.

"Gibbs!" she squealed, spinning around. "Where's my Caf-Pow?"

"You need a break," he told her.

She groaned. "But I work better with caffeine goodness."

"What have you got?" he asked.

She squealed again. "Hey, you must be Jasper!" She went to hug him and he took a step back, clearly bewildered.

"It's okay," Tony reassured him. "She's harmless."

"I am not harmless," she declared, punching Tony's arm for good measure. "I am one of the only people in the world who can kill you and leave no forensic evidence… but I wouldn't do that to you," she told Jasper.

This time he let her hug him.

"He's so cute Gibbs," she beamed when she let go. "Can I keep him?"

"No."

She turned back to her computer. "I am a genius."

"We already know that Abs," Gibbs smiled.

"I know, but I've done it again."

"Done what?"

"I worked out which call set off the bomb. And the winner is…"

"I'm still not giving you a drum roll," he warned.

"Jasper, can I have a drum roll please?" she asked.

He banged on the table a few times for her.

"Good lad! The call that trigged the bomb came from the Director's cell phone."

There was a shocked silence.

"She set off the bomb?" Ziva queried, confused.

"No, but someone rigged her cell so that when they called and she got close enough, the bomb went off," the Goth replied.

"Who was on the line?" Gibbs asked.

"Haven't been able to trace it yet, oh great one. Still working on that."

"He said he was Mr. Dickens," Tony piped up.

"As in the dead author? Cool!"

"Abs," Gibbs started.

"Trace the call and try to work out who Mr. Dickens is," she finished for him.

He kissed her cheek.

"Why are we not researching Dickens?" inquired Ziva.

"Because you lot still need to find out who took Jasper," Gibbs growled.

His team practically ran out of the door, Jasper in tow.

"Don't be mean to them, Gibbs," Abby said.

"How hard is it to find out who kidnapped one child?" he muttered.


	7. Mr Dickens

_Sorry! It seems as though the last chapter uploaded correctly, but no Alerts were sent out. I hope that this works today..._

_Thanks to Kristen for dealing with my strange muse. I seem to have written 6000 words today... I need to get out more._

Chapter 7: Mr. Dickens

Lily tried to relax as the elevator carried her up to the squad room. Charlie had refused to take her directly to the Naval Yard, instead taking her for a long late lunch at a new restaurant that she had been meaning to visit. She had been surprisingly relieved at not having to dive straight back into work, and now she wanted nothing more than to go home and curl up on the couch with a glass of bourbon.

Except she couldn't. And the home she wanted to go to had been burnt down.

By LJ, of all people.

Never before had she wished that she had read someone else in. But his reaction to Jenny's 'death' had needed to be realistic. Jenny had taken the loss of the house in her stride, arguing that there were too many bad memories within the walls. Lily wondered when her sister would realize that not everything had burnt.

Oddly enough, LJ was the only one that she had ever approved of. Being scarily similar, the sisters had always looked out for each other. Lily had blackmailed, broken up with, and harassed most of her sister's previous lovers, but had a soft spot for LJ. Even if he had initially hated the nickname she had given him.

As the doors opened, Lily took a sip of her coffee and headed towards LJ's team.

Tony noticed her arrival first. "Director," he greeted her. "Should you be out of the hospital?"

"I'm fine, Tony," she answered, looking around.

A young boy appeared from behind his desk. He stared at her.

She smiled gently. "Hi, I'm Jenny," she told him.

He walked around the desk, looking very nervous.

"What's your name?"

"Jasper," he muttered shyly.

"Nice to meet you, Jasper." She glanced over to Gibbs.

"What happened to you?" Jasper asked.

She turned back to him. "I was injured in an explosion." She didn't sugar coat it.

"Are you going to be okay?" He looked her up and down, his eyes lingering on her face, which still had a few scratches, and her ribs. She knew that she was holding herself awkwardly, something that could easily be resolved with a few painkillers, which wasn't an option.

"I'm going to be fine," she reassured him.

"Jasper's going to be staying with us for a while," Gibbs told her.

"Any particular reason?"

"Someone kidnapped him. He was very smart and managed to get away." She watched as he ruffled the boy's hair.

"Sounds like a very smart lad to me," she concurred, smiling at Jasper again.

"Abby's working the embassy bombing," he told her.

"On her own?"

"We're busy trying to locate Jasper's next of kin."

"Has she got anything?"

"Mr. Dickens," he inquired. "Who is he?"

"Charles Dickens, the author?"

"The dirtbag whose call triggered the bomb."

She was shocked. "Dickens? He'd never –"

"Who is he?"

She sighed. "A source."

"Real name."

"Don't know."

"Real name."

"Stop interrogating me, Jethro. I don't know his real name. He gives me useful information from time to time. I wasn't going to ignore his call just because I was at the embassy."

They glared at each other; Gibbs suspecting that she wasn't telling the whole truth, and Lily challenging him to call her on it.

Jasper bought an end to their silent argument. "Do you work here?"

Lily turned her attention back to him. "Yes, I do."

"Can I watch you?"

She smiled at him again. "If you want to. Is that going to be a problem, Agent Gibbs?"

"As long as he doesn't leave the building," he informed her.

She held out her hand, and Jasper took it. "I have to make some calls in MTAC," she told him as she led him away. "It stands for Multiple Threat Assessment Center. There are lots of chairs you can sit on, and if you get bored, you can come back downstairs. Is that okay?"

* * *

Gibbs sent his team home early, knowing that they had stayed at the hospital the previous night and that they needed a good rest. They had almost ran out, desperate to leave the Naval Yard.

He drove home with the radio off. His thoughts were keeping him company. He suspected that Lily would not go home, and consequently could look after the boy. Even if she did, the CIA agent was perfectly capable of protecting him.

He had been working on his new boat for several hours when his phone rang. "Go to Hell," he spoke into it, assuming it was Lily.

"Good evening to you too," came Lily's voice.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

"You always found it easier to tell us apart in the flesh," she teased.

He winced. "Hey, Jen."

She laughed happily. "She been causing you trouble?"

"Only a little." He sat down on the stool. "I need to talk to you. Did you hear –"

"About the embassy bombing?"

"Are you _sure _that you two aren't psychic?"

"Positive. That, and we swapped phones before we left. Her boss called to inform her of 'my' injuries."

"Oops. I've been trying to call; I guess that's why I didn't get through."

She laughed again; he wished he could see her.

"How's your vacation, anyway?"

"Haven't been burnt, which can only be a good thing. Topped up my tan a bit."

"Be careful," he warned her. "You can't just walk in one day looking bronzed. People will start asking questions."

"I said 'topped up', not 'cremated myself'. And since when do redheads 'bronze'?"

"Did you call for a reason?"

"Yes, actually. My plane gets in to Dulles tomorrow at noon, your time. Can I get a lift?"

"Lily's not picking you up?"

"I think she's a bit busy."

"She signed out AMA," he informed her.

"Big surprise. If she's supposed to be me, she can't exactly pick me up from the airport with my protection detail present."

"It's not a problem," he reassured her. "I just assumed that –"

"We don't hold each other's hand _that_ much, Jethro. I'm sure it's late your end."

"It's not a problem," he repeated.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"You can tell me lots of stories," he teased.

* * *

Tony sat on his couch, not paying attention to the flickering television screen in front of him. He was too busy wondering where he had met Jasper before.

Or _if_ he had met Jasper before.

He honestly didn't recognize the kid from anywhere. He didn't exactly spend a lot of time with kids. He wondered if it was a case of mistaken identity on Jasper's behalf.

Either that, or his memory was seriously going.

* * *

Ziva tossed and turned in her bed. She was too worried to sleep. Worried about Jenny.

Someone had attempted to kill her former partner. And they were being ordered to trace the next of kin of a little boy instead of hunting for Jenny's would-be killers.

Surely Gibbs knew what he was doing though. Maybe he had asked – what was her name? Lily – to go after them. Having only met Lily very briefly, she knew almost nothing about her. Jenny had refused to talk about her when they had been in the CIA hospital wing, despite her best efforts.

That must be it, she told herself. The CIA are going after the bombers, while we protect the boy.

She fell asleep with a smile on her face.

* * *

Gibbs stalked into MTAC the next morning, after finding the Director's office empty. He hoped that Lily was still around, or he was going to wring her neck…

She was sitting on one of the chairs at the front, her feet tucked under her, a pile of folders on her lap. Jasper was fast asleep on the chair next to her. He inwardly sighed, relieved that she hadn't done anything particularly stupid with the boy.

He stood in front of her, his team behind him.

She looked up after a few minutes. "Morning, Jethro."

"Making me wait for a reason?"

"You could have spoken first," she hit back.

He chose to derail the argument before it escalated into all out warfare. "I need a few hours off."

"And you decided to ask me? Why not disappear like you normally do?"

"Maybe you've taught me something."

She considered for a moment. "For noon?" she asked carefully.

"Of course."

"If you must." Behind him, his team looked puzzled. She was glad; she didn't need them to figure out what they were talking about.

Next to her, Jasper stirred.

She glared at Gibbs for disturbing him.

Jasper sat up abruptly and looked around, confused.

"Hey," she called softly.

He turned and regarded her. "Good morning, Jenny," he said when he found his voice.

"Good morning to you too, Jasper."

The door to MTAC opened again, and Cynthia rushed down the ramp. "Director," she called.

"Yes?"

"There's a Charlie downstairs. He wants to see you. Says that he needs to talk about, and I quote, JL."

She debated whether she could shoot him in her sister's office and get away with it. "Send him up," she told her assistant.

"Of course." Cynthia walked out of MTAC.

"Do you want to come to my office, Jasper?" she questioned.

"I'm hungry," he admitted.

Tony spoke up. "I could take him to breakfast, if that's okay."

Lily looked at Gibbs. "I'm going to be very busy this morning," she told him.

"Keep an eye on him," Gibbs warned Tony.

"Sure, boss. Jasper?" Tony held out his hand and the boy latched on. They followed everyone out.

* * *

Jasper decided to have his breakfast at a table outside. Tony wasn't going to argue. He'd asked to take him because he wanted to try and work out where they had met before. He still couldn't recall the boy, and it was bothering him.

Tony looked up and down the street, making sure that Jasper wasn't in danger. He knew the description of his kidnapper, and hoped that the BOLO put out the previous day would get results soon. Gibbs was getting impatient.

As their meals were placed in front of them, Jasper smiled at Tony. "Thank you," he offered.

"My pleasure, Jasper. Eat up, before your pancakes get cold."

Jasper giggled, before freezing.

"What? What's wrong?"

"That man over there," he pointed. "He's the one who kidnapped me!"


	8. Losing Control

_Thanks again to Kristen for her wonderful work._

Chapter 8: Losing Control

Abby let the music vibrate every cell in her body. She felt justified in having the volume so loud as she had, in her view, cracked the case.

She had been overjoyed when the team had been put back together. And on top of that, Jenny was alive! The Goth was fond of the Director, who let her pretty much do as she pleased. After the debacle with her stalker, Abby had begun to confide in her, trusting her to give an honest opinion on a range of topics from men to clothes. Some things you just couldn't discuss with an assassin.

Her lab smelt particularly fragrant, she mused. The omnipresent gunpowder that lingered in the air for days at a time had finally driven her mad. After trying various different ways to get rid of it, today she had covered her table in aromatherapy oils. Deciding to experiment with various combinations, she was mixing lavender, lotus blossom and mint.

Abby jumped when the music was abruptly switched off. "Gibbs! I was enjoying that," she complained, turning towards her stereo.

Ducky took his fingers out of his ears. "Goodness me, Abigail. You will end up permanently damaging your hearing if you keep this up."

"Oh, hey Ducky. What are you doing here?" She skipped over to his side and guided him to her computer.

"I have no bodies downstairs for once. Not that I'm complaining… I thought I might visit you and see if I can be of any assistance."

She smiled. "That's so sweet! I don't really need any help right now…" She trailed off, looking round. "Where's Jimmy?"

Ducky sighed. "I have no idea. Every time I turn my back, that boy vanishes."

"Check your store cupboard," Gibbs suggested, walking in.

"Gibbs!" She ran over and hugged him. "I thought that Ducky was you when he turned my music off, but now it really is you!"

He tried to follow her train of thought, but failed. "Abs, is there a reason you're hugging me more than normal?" he asked instead.

She pulled back. "Since Jenny died, or rather didn't die because the CIA faked the whole thing, but we _thought _she died, and now she nearly died again, I realized that I need to show people how much I care for them before it's too late."

"Talk to McGee," he offered as she turned back to her computer.

"What should I be telling McGee?" she queried.

"How you feel?" he tried.

She whirled around and punched his arm lightly. "How do you know what I may or may not feel for McGee, and what happened to Rule 12?"

He ignored her. "What have you got?"

"What makes you think I have something?"

He gave her an annoyed look.

"Because you always know when I have something. You're psychic, Gibbs!" She swiveled back to her computer and hit a few keys.

"I'm not, but I know two people who probably are," he muttered, loud enough for Ducky to hear but not Abby.

Ducky rolled his eyes. "She knew before you told her?"

"Claims the boss rang, but she most likely knew before that."

"Why are you two talking in riddles?" Abby asked, confused.

"Long story, Abs. What have you got?"

She gestured at the screen. "I traced the call that went to the Director's cell phone that set off the bomb."

"That's a mouthful," Ducky noted.

"Where'd it come from?" Gibbs didn't have the time.

"The CIA," she told him.

Gibbs and Ducky both paled.

"That's not good?" she inquired.

"Can you find out _where_ in the CIA it came from?" Gibbs questioned.

"Not without access to their mainframe, bossman, and they won't give it to me."

"You can't hack it?"

"Nope. Been trying for the last few hours; everything I try, they seem to know about."

Gibbs walked towards the elevator. "I'll send McGee down to help. And there might be a bot in our system still."

* * *

Gibbs sat at his desk, counting the minutes until he needed to leave and pick up Jenny. He had sent McGee downstairs to help Abby, knowing that he needed more ammunition before Jenny arrived. Lily knew more than she was letting on, and her sister was the only one capable of prying anything out of her.

He glanced up as Tony ran from the elevator, stopping in front of his desk. "There a problem, DiNozzo?" he asked.

"I got good news and bad news, boss," the younger man told him.

He glared at him. "You want me to guess?"

"Good news: Jasper identified his kidnapper when we were having breakfast. I think the guy decided to try his luck again."

"You want a medal?"

"Would love one, boss. I arrested him and he's currently sitting in Interrogation, awaiting your arrival."

"Why do I think I'm going to hate the bad news?"

"Well… Jasper panicked when he saw his abductor, and I lost him in the confusion during the arrest." Tony was backing away towards Ziva, hoping for some protection.

Gibbs inwardly sighed. The boy had been jumpy when they picked him up originally. He had planned to use Jasper as bait after a few days, if they had no leads. Nevertheless, he should have seen this coming and gone to breakfast with them.

"Enjoy your breakfast Tony?" Lily's voice cut through his thoughts.

Tony nodded. "Arrested the kidnapper."

She smiled. "Good job." She looked around. "Where's Jasper?"

"Erm…"

"He ran off in the confusion," Gibbs informed her.

He watched as she tried to control her temper. "What?!"

"I'll put out another BOLO. The kid's capable of looking out for himself though."

"I don't care if he's able to look out for himself," she hissed at him, beyond furious. "Where was your back-up, DiNozzo?"

"I didn't have any," he admitted. "I didn't think anyone was going to come after him."

"Damn right you didn't think," she snapped. "What were you doing with him alone?"

"He thinks he knows me from somewhere. I was going to ask him about it."

"You thought he wouldn't talk about it if someone else was there? Did he tell you where he thinks he knows you from?"

"No."

She turned to Gibbs; he wondered if he should run. "Why aren't you out there looking for him?" she demanded.

"I only just heard about it," he defended. "You didn't tell me the whole truth about Dickens."

"What has Dickens got to do with this? I told you that he's a source. If he calls me again with information, I'll still use him as a source."

"He called from inside the CIA," he countered.

"I don't know where he works," she retorted.

"Too busy drinking bourbon to research your contacts?" The words came out of his mouth before he could censor himself.

If it were possible, she looked even angrier. "We can't all go on margarita safaris when we want to," she answered, ruthlessly suppressing the urge to murder him with her bare hands. '_I can't believe Jenny hasn't killed him yet_,' she thought.

By this time, the squad room had emptied, no one wanting to risk being caught in the crossfire. Tony and Ziva had stayed, mainly because there was no chance of them sneaking out. They had carefully moved behind Ziva's desk, using it as a barrier between the two warring sides.

"I haven't got time for this," she almost yelled at him. "Seeing as you haven't bothered to do anything yet, I'm going to start searching for him."

Gibbs stood up hastily. "I have somewhere else I need to be," he told her, trying to end it. He followed her to the elevator.

"You're lucky I can't fire you," she muttered venomously.

"Pity I can't shoot you," he murmured back.

They glared at each other as the doors closed.

"Twenty bucks says one of them kills the other," Tony proposed.


	9. Jenny's Return

_Thanks to Kristen, and all my reviewers. I have a short oneshot that should be up soon, for July 4th. Hope you take a look!_

Chapter 9: Jenny's Return

Gibbs sipped his coffee while he looked at the arrivals board. He'd made good time; Jenny's flight had just landed, and she needed to clear customs and collect her bags before she found him. He glanced around the terminal, checking that it was safe.

He'd missed her, and that was ignoring the fact that he was having to deal with Lily. He had missed the teasing and bantering, and the chance to wind her up. He missed her observing him and his team from the catwalk. He missed bringing her coffee between meetings, and the smiles she would give him in return.

She had offered him the chance to go with her for the week. Much as he had wanted to agree, he didn't feel comfortable leaving Lily, mind game player extraordinaire, in charge of an armed federal agency. Whereas Jenny worried when she left him in charge, he dreaded having Lily around, simply because she was capable of just about anything.

Jenny and Lily. Alike, but not alike. Jenny had once remarked that Lily was a slightly darker version of herself. He agreed more with Lily's description; Jenny was an angel, while she herself had fallen.

He often thought of them as psychic, which he knew would make Abby squeal in delight. They always seemed to know where the other was and what they were doing. He had watched them clear a room together before; it was completely seamless, as though each knew what the other was thinking.

He noticed people walking through the gate, and started to look for her. It wasn't difficult to spot her, not with her red hair. She smiled as she reached him.

"Hey Jethro."

"Hey Jen," he smiled in return. "Good vacation?"

"Lovely. After the fun I had with the CIA and Vance, I needed it."

He thought she looked stunning. She had been right when she said that she hadn't burnt. "I need you to control Lily."

She groaned. "No one can control Lil. What's she up to this time?"

"No idea," he admitted.

"This connected to the bombing?"

"Someone from the CIA placed the call that set off the bomb." He picked up her bags and guided her to the exit.

"Half the CIA doesn't talk to the other half," she told him.

"A CIA agent is in an explosion that's set off by another CIA agent? You know how I feel about coincidences, Jen."

"Internal disagreement? Power struggle?" she suggested.

He shrugged. "She claims the guy is a source."

"Guy got a name?"

"Dickens."

"Never heard of him. On the other hand, she doesn't talk about her sources."

"He called _your_ phone," he pointed out.

They climbed into his car in silence.

"Can you at least talk to her?"

"I always talk to my sister," she teased.

"About this?"

"Can't guarantee she'll tell me anything. Why don't you talk to her?"

"We had a serious row."

"Never annoy a redhead," she warned.

He started the car and began to drive. "Where am I taking you?" he asked.

"Lil's."

They drove in silence for a while, until Gibbs worked up the nerve to speak.

"Who's Bob?"

"Bob?" she echoed.

"Congressman Bob Sommers."

"I… met with him a few times. He was pushing through a bill that I supported."

"You're not dating him?"

"No." His heart lightened; she looked confused. "Where did you hear that?"

"He showed up at the hospital and said he was your lover."

"I'm going to kill her."

"Why's Lily pretending to be you?" He was mystified.

"He's an operation! He must be. She'd never date such a stuck-up idiot otherwise."

He chuckled. One problem down, one to go. "Your brother showed up at the hospital too," he told her.

She looked at him blankly.

"Charlie?" he prompted.

"We don't have a brother." It was her turn to look mystified.

"Maybe he's her boyfriend then," he suggested.

"Who introduced themselves first?" she queried.

"Bob," he recalled.

"Ten dollars says he's her partner."

"I said that first!"

"CIA partner," she clarified.

"You think?"

"We don't have a brother. What would you say if your partner was in the hospital and you couldn't say you were a partner?"

"Lover."

"You can't say that without blowing the operation!"

"I suppose my next choice would be brother," he conceded.

She smiled. "You owe me ten dollars."

* * *

Lily walked into the train station, tamping down her frustration. How could DiNozzo lose Jasper? How hard was it to keep an eye on one kid?

She was strangely relieved that her sister would be taking over again tomorrow. Normally, a few days running an agency with LJ's assistance was her idea of a vacation. However, she was itching to get back to her own operation – Lazarus.

Lazarus seemed to be getting more complicated by the day. She had worked very hard to keep the other agencies from finding out what was going on. She could count on one hand the number of people who had been read in. Even her sister had no clue.

Her ribs were still aching and her throat was still sore. When Jenny returned, she planned to take a few pills and float into oblivion. She knew that she wouldn't be able to rest for long, neither of them ever could, but the opportunity to take half a day off… right now she wasn't sure she could pass it up.

Moving around, she finally located Jasper, lurking by the public phones. She had to admit that he was smart; he had sat near to an elderly woman, who was asleep. At first glance, it looked as though he was her grandson.

Silently, she headed towards him and sat down on the floor, her knees protesting. Jasper almost jumped out of his skin.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly.

"I'm hungry," he whispered.

She grinned. "No breakfast?"

"No lunch either."

"How about I treat you?" she offered.

He considered it. "You're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"I was scared so I ran."

"You saw the man who kidnapped you; you reacted."

"What would you have done?" He looked at her, his green eyes filling with tears.

"I would have done exactly what you did," she answered truthfully.

"So I did good?"

"You did good."

She got to her feet and offered her hand to him.

"You know," she began carefully. "I haven't had breakfast or lunch either."

He grinned at her. "You need to eat! Where are we going?"

* * *

The mood in the squad room was somber. When the Director had returned, Jasper in tow, she had all but exploded at Tony for losing him. Jasper had been dispatched to see Ducky, while she had stormed off to MTAC.

McGee had returned to the squad room, after admitting defeat in tracing the phone call further. The CIA mainframe had rendered itself inaccessible, for some bizarre reason. Abby had told him about the bot, and they had spent several fruitless hours searching for it.

As Gibbs stepped off the elevator, minus Jenny, he observed his team. Ziva was in the middle of a very animated phone call in Hebrew, McGee was tapping away at his computer, and Tony, looking very sullen, was searching through files.

"Boss!" Tony called, noticing his arrival.

"Found Jasper?" he inquired.

"Director bought him in. He's with Ducky. You're not…"

"Not what?" he asked, sitting down and starting his own computer.

"You know… mad at me? For losing the kid?"

He glared at the younger man. "Director chew you out?"

"Well, yeah, but –"

"You want to be chewed out again?"

"Not particularly."

"I'm sure she did a good enough job." Gibbs didn't know why she had gotten so livid, although he knew that Lily didn't suffer fools gladly, and DiNozzo had been rather foolish.

Ziva finally put the phone down. "I have managed to map out our kidnapper's life history. And I still can't find a trace of a Jasper Thompson. I have asked one of my contacts to continue the search."

"Oh, that was the conversation in tongues," Tony snapped.

"I do not speak Tongues. Where is that spoken?"

Gibbs ignored the pair of them and turned to McGee. "Report," he ordered.

"Jason Fredricks' bank records coming right up, boss," McGee reported. "No luck with the CIA."

Gibbs decided to ask Jenny to torture her sister. It was probably the only way to get the information out of her.

"Here we go." He put the records on the plasma. "That's interesting…"

"What's interesting, McGeek?" Tony was still angry at being the object of the Director's tirade.

"Five million dollars transferred into his account eight days ago."

"That is not an inheritance," Ziva noted.

"Can you trace it?" Gibbs asked.

"Might take a few hours, but probably," McGee replied.

"You've got an hour," Gibbs told him. "DiNozzo, David, with me. I want to talk to this dirtbag."


	10. The Hired Gun

_Thanks to Kristen, and to all my reviewers._

Chapter 10: The Hired Gun

Lily squashed the urge to pace up and down in Observation. It was one of those annoying habits that she and her sister were trying to break. She knew why she did it, to burn off the energy she would otherwise use to murder whoever had infuriated her this time.

It had taken six hours the previous night, and an awful amount of threats, to get the name of the idiot responsible for blowing her up. She hadn't had the opportunity to keelhaul him yet, and she was waiting for the moment that her sister would come back to work. Only a few more hours…

In some respects, she was glad that LJ was dealing with the kidnapping. For one, she trusted him to get to the bottom of it. Moreover, it also kept him from focusing on the bombing. And away from her growing knowledge of it.

LJ was one of the few people who had ever been able to work out what she was up to. Jenny could hazard a few semi-accurate guesses, Charlie was beginning to understand how her mind worked, and LJ had discovered just how devious she could be. She dreaded to think what would happen if they all got together and tried to figure out one of her games, although she doubted they would get very far.

She almost cheered when LJ finally stormed into Interrogation. How long did it take to look at a file? She knew he liked to catch suspects off guard, but she had lost her patience since the bombing.

"You're in a lot of trouble, Jason," Gibbs warned, slamming a stack of files onto the table.

The man remained silent.

"I've got a visual identification of you by the boy you kidnapped."

The man remained silent.

"You've got five million dollars in your account that shouldn't be there."

The man remained silent.

"Who hired you?"

The man remained silent.

Gibbs stood up and knocked on the glass. "DiNozzo," he called. "Get in here and arrest Mr. Fredricks on terrorism charges."

"You can't do that!" the man protested.

"The money came from a terrorist organization," Gibbs lied. In reality, Abby and McGee were still trying to trace the money.

"Hey, I didn't know who hired me," Jason argued.

Gibbs sat back down again. "Convince me."

Jason sighed. "I was offered ten million dollars to pick up this kid, half in advance."

"Who hired you?"

"I don't know! I was told to take the kid to Australia; I was given a fake passport."

"You were given a fake passport but you don't know who hired you?"

"I found it pushed under my door one morning. I swear I don't know who hired me!"

Gibbs stared at him.

"I'll take a lie detector test! I don't know who hired me."

Lily stalked out of Observation. She was around the corner before Gibbs got up and left.

* * *

Ducky had switched the music in the lab to an old country and western radio station. He had also insisted on being in control of the volume. He did not want to have to deal with the consequences when Abigail's hearing started to go.

He had come up to visit about twenty minutes previously, and decided to stay. Abigail and McGee were frantically trying to trace some money, and they were hitting a lot of dead ends. He had stayed to attempt to raise their spirits, which were sinking faster than the Titanic.

He was very fond of the Goth. She was one of the few people that loved to hear his stories. He could also discuss much of his work with her; something that most people did not want to hear about. She enjoyed asking him questions about what he had found, and answering his own. He thought that they had a very symbiotic relationship; they both fed off the other.

Timothy was a very charming gentleman, he had discovered. He had not been surprised to learn that the younger man wrote in his spare time, although being published was another matter. He was counting down the days until the sequel was on sale; he was startlingly eager to read Rock Hollow. He suspected that Tommy and Lisa did not know when the book was due out, and he did not intend to inform them.

The relative calm was shattered by the whirlwind of impatience that was Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

"Abs! Need to know where that money came from," he demanded, setting the obligatory Caf-Pow in front of her.

She ignored it. "No time. Got to trace the money," she muttered, concentrating furiously on her task.

"You've had two hours," Gibbs pointed out.

"We might need two years," warned McGee.

Gibbs' glare was muted by the back of the younger man's head.

"Seriously, bossman. It came from a Swiss account. They won't tell us who owns the account." Abby slammed her hands down on the table. "Argh! I give up."

"McGee, get into it," Gibbs ordered.

"Not going to happen, boss," McGee told him. "Security protocol is top of the range, firewall can withstand anything we might try."

"In English."

"It's… practically impossible."

"Find a way," Gibbs commanded. "Abs, embassy bombing. How's it going?"

She jumped in surprise. "I completely forgot! I was so busy helping McGee that I forgot to check the security footage."

"Check it." He walked out.

Ducky watched as the Goth skipped over to the pile of video tapes she needed to watch.

"Old school," McGee noted, taking his eyes from the screen for a moment.

"Really old school," she agreed. "Ducky! How is Jasper? I forgot to ask when you came in."

He smiled warmly. "Master Thompson is fine, if a little shaken by recent events. I am positive that he will make a full recovery."

"He's so sweet," Abby grinned. "He asked me if I had a little sister, nearer to his age."

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you stayed in touch with him," Ducky encouraged.

"I'm going to buy him some flowers," she decided. "After I've watched these tapes."

* * *

Gibbs was enjoying the relative peace of the squad room. No Lily – she had retreated to her sister's office a while ago, presumably catching up with some of the paperwork that seemed to appear out of thin air. No McGee – he was still with Abby, attempting to trace the money. The only problems he had were bickering in the corner.

DiNozzo and David. The two of them made squabbling an Olympic sport. Nothing was off limits, from bodily functions to supercars. He wondered what would happen if he asked Lily to referee one of their arguments. He had the brief image of Ziva and Lily fighting to the death while Tony's lifeless form was splayed on the ground, and quashed it.

He inwardly sighed. They were supposed to be locating Jasper's next of kin, not arguing over who should pay for dinner.

"Oi!" he yelled, breaking it up. "From the noise you're making, you must have found something."

They both looked decidedly nervous. Tony spoke up first. "No trace of next of kin, boss."

"What have you been doing for the last hour?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Jasper Thompson appeared out of nowhere at six months old when he was enrolled in the school," Ziva piped up.

"He has no pediatrician, no dentist –" Tony continued.

"No relatives," Ziva finished, glaring at her partner.

"What are our options?" Gibbs demanded.

"According to Legal, we hand him back to the school," Ziva told him.

Gibbs wondered if he should ask Lily to trace him. Or, better still, ask Jenny to ask Lily. She could come back with a classified answer, but even that would be an improvement.

"Gibbs!" Abby called as she charged in. "I found something!"

He treated her to a smile. "You got into the account?"

"No, but I got something hinky. Really hinky. Really really hinky –"

"We get the image, Abby," Ziva spoke up.

"Picture, Zee-vah," Tony corrected automatically.

"Whatever," the Goth told them. "The point is, I watched the security tapes. Did anyone else watch them? It was glaring at me."

"Today, Abs," Gibbs warned.

"The Director walked towards the bomb, right?"

"Yes," he recalled. "But she didn't know that it was there."

"I think she did."

There was a shocked silence.

"Okay, she gets the phone call and she heads straight for this particular floral arrangement," Abby informed them, starting the tape. "Not quite what I would have chosen. Black roses are much prettier than yellow –"

"Abs," Gibbs growled.

"Right, notice how she's looking around at everyone."

"It's a busy place," Tony pointed out. "She's making sure that she doesn't bump into anyone."

"I see it," Ziva announced. "She is checking that the area is clear."

"Exactly," Abby grinned triumphantly. "And when the area is clear, she walks right up to the bomb."

"Her phone call triggered the bomb," Ziva recollected.

"And therefore, the Director herself triggered the bomb that blew her up!"

Gibbs felt his stomach hit his shoes. He should have guessed. Any time Lily was involved, it was _never_ a coincidence.

"We were looking at it the wrong way!" Abby continued. "The bomb could have been much worse if those two wires were the other way round, but they were _deliberately_ put that way round. Whoever built the bomb didn't want to destroy the building, they just wanted to make us think that they did."

Gibbs headed for the Director's office, debating how to handle this.

Abby bounced up and down in delight.

"Why would the Director blow herself up though?" Tony questioned.

"Another operation?" Ziva suggested.

"To take a few sick days?" Abby offered.

They stared at her.

"What?! I would."


	11. Operation Lazarus

_Please note that there is an epilogue after this that will hopefully explain a few more things..._

_Thanks to Kristen and all my reviewers!_

Chapter 11: Operation Lazarus

Lily rested her head against the back of her sister's chair. She was tired, her throat was still sore, and her ribs ached even more than they had done when she had left the hospital. Just a few more hours… then she would have to write up a report for the CIA regarding the bombing, ask Charlie whether her plan had come to fruition, and read the latest European intelligence reports. None of these she could do within the hallowed walls of NCIS.

She could understand why her sister enjoyed working in this place. Everyone was friendly, the coffee wasn't bad, and the hours were good.

The CIA had its' advantages though. You could see who was backstabbing whom a mile off, the coffee was practically flowing out of the taps, and every rule was meant to be broken. Lily enjoyed thinking and working outside of the box, even though this required long hours and being told to literally drop everything and get on a plane at a moment's notice.

She longed to go home. Jenny had returned, and would hopefully have cooked dinner. Lily had never bothered with a housekeeper, instead living on takeout and coffee. She had long since decided that the CIA would collapse within a week if coffee disappeared.

The door crashed open and slammed shut so quickly that she barely had time to draw her gun. She had learnt the hard way to always be alert.

"LJ," she greeted him, putting it away but not sitting down.

He turned the lock in the door before standing directly in front of her desk. "Wanna tell me what's going on?"

"Stock prices rose again today, the SECNAV decided that your budget needs reviewing more thoroughly, the birds have gone to nest for the night –"

"You blew yourself up."

She took a moment to study him. Cold fury was lining his face; he wasn't bluffing. "And what if I did?"

He thumped his hand down on the table. "You could have killed everyone else at that party!" he roared.

"I didn't assemble the bomb."

"You knew it was there!"

"I didn't plant it, either."

"You knew it was there, and you put others at risk!"

"Hey," she exclaimed. "I was told that I would lose consciousness, and I quote, 'for a few seconds'. No one mentioned anything about bruising three ribs and ending up on a ventilator!"

"Oh, so you're the victim here?" he mocked.

"We were operating on foreign soil, before you get started," she pointed out.

"Did you warn the Nepalese before you set the bomb off?" he countered.

She sat down, not bothering to reply. She located her glasses, perched them on the end of her nose and pulled some files towards her. "Anything else while you're here?"

He glared at her. "What's going on?" he repeated, calmer this time.

"It's classified."

"Anything I can get McGee to hack into?"

"He's already tried."

He considered for a minute. "This is Lazarus?"

She looked him straight in the eye. "Operation Lazarus is need to know, and you don't," she warned.

"Can you discuss it with Jenny?"

"She hasn't been read in, and I have no intention of reading her in at this moment in time."

He mulled over her words, before leaving the office as abruptly as he had entered.

'_Damn_,' Lily thought. '_Not what I need_.'

* * *

Gibbs walked down the stairs, thinking furiously. What was Lazarus? Lily's version of classified meant that she couldn't give an answer, however much she might want to. Why would she blow herself up? What purpose did it have? He wondered if Jenny could coerce a few secrets from her sister. Or maybe Ziva could…

He walked back to his team; McGee now present as well. What should he tell them? What _could_ he tell them?

"Bossman," Abby called nervously.

"Did you get into the account?" he asked McGee.

"No. Not going to happen any time in the future either. I put in a request to Legal to see if they can force the bank to give the account holder's name, but I seriously doubt we're going to get anywhere."

"It is not a complete loss," Ziva pointed out. "The boy is safe and we have the kidnapper."

"What about the bomb, Gibbs?" Abby tried again. "What did the Director say?"

Gibbs beckoned them all closer. "The Director says that it is need to know, and we don't."

"Not again," Tony muttered.

"What do you mean?" Ziva queried.

"The last time that phrase was used…"

"It did not go too well," she concluded.

Gibbs headed towards the elevator.

"Where are you going?" McGee questioned.

"Coffee. I want your final reports on the kidnapping before you leave," he told them, stepping into the elevator.

They all groaned. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Tony sat in a bar not far from his apartment. After hearing that another operation was being conducted, he had decided to drown his sorrows a bit.

He couldn't forget what had happened the last time they had been caught up in a personal vendetta, and it seemed like it was going to happen again.

Why would Jenny blow herself up though? So far, at least, she was only hurting herself…

* * *

Ziva reached for another slice of pizza. The last few days had gone well. Except for Jenny being injured…

…Even though she had done it to herself.

The Israeli wondered if she would ever allow herself to be injured on purpose to achieve something. Something that was, right now, a secret. She smiled softly; she had always known that Jenny was dedicated to the mission. Whatever the mission was.

* * *

McGee was too frustrated to write. His publisher wanted the next chapter of his next book, and he couldn't settle for long enough for the thoughts to flow.

He was furious about the Swiss bank account. Why couldn't he get in it? He was supposed to be a computer expert, which was why Vance had transferred him to Cyber Crimes, but he couldn't access one bank account? And he didn't even need much! He only needed a name…

He decided to call in a favor with Jenkins in Legal. Surely there had to be another way to get the information…

* * *

Abby lay in her coffin, decked in her funeral shroud. It was very comfortable and cozy, although very few others saw it that way.

She was very pleased with herself for working out how the bomb had operated. It had been blown into little tiny pieces and she had put it all back together again. And she had worked out who had set it off as well! Even if she didn't understand her reasoning...

* * *

Ducky treated himself to a glass of scotch. His mother had finally gone to sleep and the dogs were all settled. He felt that the day had gone rather well, overall.

Jasper Thompson. A pleasant lad. A bit shy, but polite and sharp. His green eyes reminded him of someone…

* * *

Gibbs stopped sanding his boat for long enough to take a sip of his bourbon. After the mayhem of the last few days, he was looking forward to having Jenny as Director again. No more mind games, not until Lily showed up once more.

Jenny. He'd managed to persuade her to go out to dinner with him the next night. He had argued that she needed something to welcome her back after her vacation. She had probably seen through the flimsy excuse, but agreed anyway. He'd practically begged Lily to recommend a good restaurant; she had suggested a new one that she had visited the day before. Sometimes, twins with very similar tastes can be advantageous.


	12. Epilogue

_Thanks for all the speculation on Jasper! The clues have been there all along... Sorry this chapter is so short, but I hope it answers some of your questions._

_A short oneshot entitled Interrogation should be up soon, and another longer story named Death of a Sailor should go up after that._

_As usual, thanks to Kristen for being a big help._

Chapter 12: Epilogue

"Jasper. _Jasper_. Wake up."

Jasper opened his eyes and tried to make sense of the images.

"Jasper, it's Lily. You need to get up."

He remembered. He remembered coming home with her, to a small but cozy apartment. Her sister had been home, and they had had dinner together. He and Lily had watched cartoons as Jenny unpacked. He'd gone to bed in the spare room after a warm mug of cocoa and two bedtime stories, one from each sister.

"Mmm. I'm awake," he mumbled.

"Come on sleepyhead, you need up to get up," she reminded him, pulling the covers off him. "We're running late."

He forced himself to get up, and found his school uniform laid out at the bottom of his bed.

"Get dressed," she told him. "Come and get breakfast when you're ready."

He got dressed in a hurry, and raced through the bathroom. He ran into the kitchen, skidded on the floor, and collapsed into a chair.

She pushed a bowl at him. "Lucky Charms?"

"Please."

She tipped a rather large amount in the bowl and handed him the milk. As he ate, he watched her nurse a coffee.

"Where's Jenny?" he asked.

"She had to go to work earlier than me. She's worried that I might have messed up her precious agency."

He giggled, pushing the bowl away from him.

"Go brush your teeth," she ordered.

He was back in the kitchen four minutes later. "I'm ready to go," he announced.

"Good." She handed him the small bag she had collected from the school and gave it to him, placing her now empty mug on the side.

"You're not going to wash up?" he asked.

"Later."

She bundled him into her car, and guided them through rush hour to the gates. Her cell phone rang several times; she ignored it. He got out of the car and looked at her.

"I don't want to go," he admitted.

"Sometimes we have to do things that we don't want to."

"I'm worried about you; you got yourself blown up."

"Everything's going to be okay."

"You promise?"

"I promise." She smiled gently at him.

He ran through the gates, towards the main door. She watched him open the door, blow her a kiss, and disappear.

"See you around, Jasper," she whispered. She started the car, heading towards her job, leaving her son in capable hands.

THE END


End file.
